Quiz: Howstuffworks

Are You Better at Trivia Than Everyone Else? Take This Quiz!

Isadora Teich

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About This Quiz

There is a reason that trivia games of all kinds have been popular for years and years. It can be a lot of fun to truly put your brain to the test and see what you really know and have learned. Whether you are working with a team or taking a quiz on your own, it can be a lot of fun to test your mental mettle and stretch those thinking muscles. In fact, for many people, learning seemingly random facts about things is a hobby and true pleasure that they truly enjoy.

If you love trivia and enjoy putting your brain to the test every now and again, give this exciting quiz a whirl. If you know a little bit about everything and live for fun facts, this will definitely be the kind of quiz you will enjoy! From history, to science, to the arts, to everyday common knowledge, there is so much to know out there that it would be almost impossible for one person to have a handle on all of it, but that won't ever stop true trivia lovers from giving it their best shot!

Put your trivia chops to the ultimate test with this quiz!

How many colors are in a rainbow?

3

7

10

14

There are 7 colors in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Many people use the mnemonic ROY G BIV to remember all of the colors which appear in rainbows.

Which ancient country gave its rulers the title Pharaoh?

Carthage

Egypt

The Byzantine Empire

Rome

The rulers of Ancient Egypt were called Pharaohs. They were considered the head of both state and spirituality, many claiming divine origins. They had great wealth and power for centuries.

What is the world's largest animal?

An elephant

A blue whale

A great white shark

An anaconda

Blue whales are so large that their hearts alone weigh roughly 400 pounds. This is about the size of a small piano. They can grow up to 100 feet long and weigh up to about 200 tons.

Which large country is the closest to New Zealand?

China

Australia

Mexico

France

Australia is the closest big country to New Zealand; however, the two are not actually all that close. There is actually over 2,500 miles of sea between the two oceanic countries.

Which billionaire lost their billionaire status by donating so much to charity?

Jeff Bezos

JK Rowling

Kylie Jenner

Oprah Winfrey

JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" books and franchise has made her one of the richest people on earth. After becoming a billionaire, she lost her billionaire status because she gave so much of her money to charity.

Hammurabi's code said that bartenders who did which of these should be executed?

Refuse to serve anyone

Water down beer

Close early

Open late

The Code of Hammurabi is a a Babylonian code of law from ancient Mesopotamia. It dates back to about 1750 BCE. According to the code, watering down beer as a bartender was an offense punishable by death.

Which river flows through London?

The Tiber

The Mississippi

The Thames

The Amazon

The River Thames runs through Southern England and London. It is 215 miles long and has been a historically important trade route. It is the longest river entirely in the country of England.

Where on earth can you actually visit Hell?

Norway

South Korea

Rhode Island

Quebec

There is a village called Hell in rural Norway. And yes, every winter it does freeze over, as temperatures can reach -13 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a small village in central Norway with a population of less than 2,000 people.

In which US State is it legal to hunt unicorns?

Pennsylvania

California

Florida

Michigan

Lake Superior State University offers a unicorn hunting license. According to the regulations, you can only take one unicorn per month, but never a female unicorn. Unicorn hunting season is all days of the year, except for St. Agnes' Eve.

What is the name of the wise wizard in "The Lord of the Rings"?

Dumbledore

Mayair

Gandalf

Lich

Gandalf is the name of the wise and tricky wizard in "The Lord of the Rings." Many consider him to be the modern invention of the wizard trope in fantasy media, who wears robes and has a long grey beard.

What is the largest country on earth by area?

China

Russia

Canada

Mexico

The largest country in the world by area is Russia, which spans the continents of Europe and Asia. Russia is over 6.6 million square miles in size and touches both the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

What is a baby porcupine called?

A chick

A pup

A porcupette

A faff

Baby porcupines are called porcupettes. When they are born their quills are soft, but they usually harden soon after they are born. They usually leave their parents a few months after they are born.

Who was the first female member of Congress?

Victoria Woodhull

Jeannette Rankin

Susan B. Anthony

Angela Davis

Jeanette Rankin was a Montana Representative and the first woman elected to Congress in 1916. She was one of the only suffragists ever elected to Congress. As a staunch pacifist, she voted against US participation in both World War I and World War II.

Which country has almost none of its garbage end up in landfills?

Sweden

Japan

The US

India

The way Sweden handles their waste, less than one percent of it goes into landfills. However, this does not mean they recycle everything. While they do recycle a lot, they actually burn about half of their waste.

About how many ways are there to make change for a US dollar?

25

140

300

550

There are exactly 293 ways to make change for a US dollar, or about 300 ways. These all include some combination of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. It would take a long time to test this yourself.

Roughly when does the world's oldest surviving piano date back to?

500 BC

1200

1700

1900

The world's oldest surviving piano dates back to 1720. It was created by an Italian maned named Bartolomeo Cristofori. It can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Which animals are known to hold hands when they sleep?

Sea otters

Dolphins

Elephants

Bears

Sea otters are known to hold hands when they sleep. They do this when they sleep in water so they do not drift apart from each other. Often, a mother sea otter will hold onto her pup like this, because baby sea otters can't swim.

Winston Churchill's mother was born in which country?

The UK

Poland

Japan

The US

Winston Churchill's mother was Jennie Spencer Churchill, better known as Lady Randolph Churchill. She was born Jennie Jerome in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on January 9th,1854.

How many ingredients are in a McRib from McDonald's?

5

35

50

70

The famous McRib from McDonald's has 70 ingredients. It contains a lot of pig organs, salt, and chemicals. However, the bun alone contains 34 ingredients, including things like ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80.

What does M&M stand for?

Mars and Murrie

Meet and Mark

Mike and Matt

Mills and Mickle

M&M stands for Mars and Murrie. It is named for Forrest Mars, son of the Mars company founder, and Bruce Murrie, son of the president of Hershey Chocolate. Together, the collaborated to create the M&M.

More people speak English as a foreign language than a native one: True or False?

True

False

English is the most widely spoken language on earth. However, four more times as many people speak it as a foreign language than a native one. 350 million people speak it natively, but 2 billion people are learning it as a second language.

What is the worst color you can wear to a job interview?

Black

White

Orange

Green

According to a Career Builder Survey, 25% of respondents found the color orange to be unprofessional. This makes it the worst color to wear to a job interview. The best, however, is blue.

Which employer technically has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard?

Claire's

Buffalo Wild Wings

Walmart

Old Navy

The infamously difficult Harvard has an acceptance rate of about 9%. Walmart, on the other hand, has an acceptance rate of about 2.6%. Based on pure numbers, you are less likely to get a job at Walmart than get into Harvard.

In recent years, the small town of Dorset, Minnesota had a mayor who was unique because he was:

A duck

Invisible

3-years-old

A sorcerer

In 2015, the small town of Dorset, Minnesota elected Robert Tufts, a 3-year-old, to be the mayor. In this town, they pick a new mayor every two years by picking names out of a hat.

What ingredient in a lot of luxury skincare is actually not good for your skin?

Water

Oils

Gold

Hyaluronic acid

While gold makes beautiful jewelry, it does not belong in skin care. It can actually clog your pores over time. Gold in skin care can be incredibly expensive, and does not benefit your skin long term at all.

How many times more likely are you to be killed by a vending machine than a shark?

Not at all

2 times

4 times

12 times

While many people are afraid of sharks and almost no one is afraid of vending machines, vending machines actually pose a much bigger threat to humanity. You are twice as likely to be killed by a vending machine than you are a shark.

Who were high heels originally worn by?

Women

Children

Actors

Men

High heels initially came into fashion in the 10th century, and were a part of men's fashion. It wasn't until the 18th century that women started to wear heels more often than men.

Which sport did President Abraham Lincoln excel at?

Tennis

Running

Wrestling

Football

Abraham Lincoln was a skilled wrestler who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992. However, the type of wresting he did not resemble modern-day professional wrestling.

The Sahara Desert is comparable to the size of which country?

Morocco

China

Chile

Spain

The Sahara Desert is the largest non-polar desert on earth. Located on the African continent, its size is comparable to that of the United States or China. Currently, about 2 million people live there nomadically.

When a tiger shark hatches inside its mother's womb, what does it do first?

Kill her

Swim away

Scream

Eat its siblings

Tiger shark pups hatch while still inside their mother and are born when fully formed. The first to hatch eats all of its unhatched siblings. This is incredibly unusual amongst animals, however, this shark is one of the most aggressive in the ocean.

What is responsible for 90% of the world's earthquakes?

Volcanoes

Activity in the Ring of Fire

Oil drilling

Gravity

The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe shaped basin that traces the entirety of the Pacific Ocean, from the southern tip of South America, to the Aleutian Trench, to Maritime Southeast Asia and New Zealand. It is where the majority of the world's geologic activity occurs.

Are most Caribbean islands uninhabited?

Yes

No

There are over 7,000 islands in the Caribbean. However, less than 2% of them are inhabited. In over a million miles of land and sea, there are only 13 sovereign island nations and 12 dependent territories.

Bananas are technically which of these?

Vegetables

Tubers

Fungus

Berries

Scientifically, bananas are technically berries, while strawberries are not. Berries are technically fruits with 3 layers, a thick outer later, a middle edible one, and in inner one with seeds.

What is the most populous US State?

Oregon

Florida

California

Maine

California is the most populous US State. Roughly 12% of the entire population of the US lives in California. While Texas is larger in terms of land area, it has the second largest population in the US.

Why do many countries in Asia end with the suffix -stan?

After a Greek King

It's a Persian word

Western mistranslations

No one knows

-Stan comes from a Persian root word that means "country", "place of", or "land." That is why there are countries like Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. Kazakhstan means "Land of the Kazakhs."

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